Chapter Twenty

A New Master

Appalled by this news, Jason gasped, "What?" turning to the cloud. "Asta, is this true?"

"Yes, your Majesty," came the quiet, sorrowful reply. "I'm a slave to whoever draws me through, linked into their very brain patterns and compelled to obey."

"Well, if that's so," the Doctor said thoughtfully, "then perhaps his Highness would be kind enough to utilize your powers to do some good for a change." He received a horrified look from the others.

"Doctor!" King Jason exclaimed disapprovingly. "You're the last person I'd expect to condone slavery. This is savage!"

"No, Majesty, the Doctor has something specific in mind," Asta injected calmly, having already received a mental image of what the Time Lord meant. "He desires that I heal this troubled planet, repair the damage that was done. He feels—" She paused a moment. "It's so difficult. I can't identity these emotion with words."

"Concern? Empathy? Compassion?" Jason suggested helpfully.

Juris was more to the point. "Can you do it, Asta? And I'm not commanding you," he added quickly. "I'm only asking."

The cloud of smoke changed color slightly. "You're still very puzzling," Asta remarked, bringing a smile to the Prince's face. "Yes, I can do it, if you so desire. I can't bring back those who lost their lives in the violence, but I can return the rest to the way it was."

"Before Ormril's influence altered its natural course?" the Doctor injected pointedly. It was bad enough when the indigenous population produced a power mad individual who set the population against itself, producing war, disease and the like. But to have an alien madman the likes of Ormril doing so was something the Doctor could not allow. The people of the planet did not even know they were being used. If Asta could break off the external influence, good. If she could return the planet to it's previous, peaceful state, all the better. To his delight, Asta replied, "Yes, Time Lord, I can do that also."

"Good," Juris said approvingly. "Then do it."

There was a long silence as Asta carried out this command, the cloud changing color several time during the process. Finally she announced that, as soon as the time bubble was removed, all would be as it was before.

"Is there anything else I may do to serve you, Mas—your Highness?"

"No," Juris replied firmly. "I don't want you to serve me. I just want you to call me Juris again. The kind of power you offer isn't healthy. I don't want anything to do with it."

While this pronouncement brought a glow of pride to Jason's face, it caused the smoky haze to change color drastically, going from bright blue to a dull, slightly greenish tint. "I…don't understand," Asta said at last. "Am I to be ignored?"

"No, independent. Able to act on your own," the Prince said calmly. "I intend to honor my promise and free you as of now."

The words were barely out of his mouth when a beam of light suddenly flashed from the haze, enveloping the appalled Prince in an energy field. He let out a cry of alarm as he was drawn into the cloud. "Asta! What're you doing!" he exclaimed in a panicky voice.

"Don't be afraid, Juris, I'm not going to hurt you," came the quiet reply. "I need to explain that—"

"Explain! What's to explain? I free you and this is the thanks I get."

"Juris, please, listen to me! If you do what I see in your mind, you'll die! You'll destroy yourself and me."

Stunned, the young man was momentarily silent. "How?" he asked at last. "How can I destroy you? You're indestructible."

"Nothing is indestructible."

"But…"

"Will you allow me to show you telepathically?" Asta asked.

Now in the midst of the thick, smoke-like energy haze, Juris looked around nervously and wondered if he had been wise to bring Asta through the dimensional portal.

"Juris, I won't hurt you." This was spoken in so soothing a tone it actually startled the Prince. He drew a deep breath and relaxed as best he could, closing his eyes. "Alright. Show me."

The sphere started to glow, but instead of intense pain, the Alterran found himself filled with a sense of peace and completely relaxed in spite of himself. He was aware of Asta entering his mind, and found that she too had changed and was extremely gentle. The mental image she gave him, however, was utterly terrifying and his eyes snapped open at the horror of it. "Why didn't you tell me this before?" he demanded shakily.

"You still don't understand," Asta replied. "I was linked to Ormril then."

"I said I'd free you," the Prince protested.

"I didn't believe you, don't you see? I've seen too many people make promises in desperation that they had no intention of keeping. I thought when you saw I couldn't hurt you anymore, you'd use me as he did, only in a different manner."

"How could you think that about me?"

"You're Alterran. Deception's a way of life, isn't that what you said?" Asta reminded, feeling the pang of remorse Juris felt at hearing his own words. "I misjudged you," she said slowly, "and I'm sorry."

Her tone amazed the young man, as did the feelings of sorrow and remorse that flooded over him. "Why…? How is it you feel this so strongly now?"

"Because I'm linked to you now. Your brain patterns. I see as you do. Feel as you do. I understand now why you were angry with me for betraying your trust when—"

"What do you mean were angry?" Juris interrupted. "I am angry! Look at me! Look where I am—again!"

"Juris, I'm trying to apologize—"

"Why bother? I'm your prisoner all over again."

"No! You're here because you want to hear what I have to say," Asta corrected sharply. "Otherwise you'd've ordered me to let you go. You gave me the power to act independently and I'm trying to save your life, in case you hadn't noticed."

Prince Juris opened his mouth to argue, only to close it again. She was right and he knew it. In spite of his anger, he had wanted to hear what she had to say. But would she really let him go if he ordered her to?

This thought had no sooner crossed his mind than the force field vanished and the startled Juris found himself back on the accessway being barraged with questions. "I'm alright!" he protested, holding up his hands. "She didn't hurt me, honestly." Looking over at the cloud, he added, "I don't think she can anymore."

"So what happens now?" Peri asked in bewilderment.

"I don't know. That's Asta's decision," Juris said firmly.

The Doctor turned pointedly to the energy haze and paused, having the strangest feeling that somehow he had seen it before. This is an odd time to experience déjà vú, he thought. "Well, Asta? What do we do now?" he asked.

"It isn't so much what we can do as much as what you can do, Doctor," Asta replied, adding startlingly. "You can free me."

The Time Lord blinked, clearly taken aback by this announcement. "I thought Prince Juris just did that."

"No, not in the way you think. For me to be completely independent, he must sever the thought link. But if that is done improperly, Juris will die and I'll be destroyed when the energy cone is shut down. In order to be truly free, I must leave the energy field all together."

"But that's impossible!" Jason gasped. "You're a part of it."

The Doctor waved him to silence. "I'm not entirely sure I know what you're asking," he said calmly.

"I'm asking you to help me pass into physical being."

"Physical being?" Jason was incredulous and exchanged an amazed and dubious look with the Doctor.

Juris ignored them both. "Can't I help you get out?"

"No, Juris, not this time," Asta said in an almost amused tone. "I require the Doctor's assistance in order to leave the energy field and sever the link without harming you. There is much you don't understand that he does."

The Doctor wasn't so sure about that, but kept this thought to himself and considered the implications of Asta's request in silence. Would she be easier or harder to control once she left the energy field? Would she become another Ormril? Or would she simply be a mortal being, vulnerable and fallible?

The Doctor was forced to admit that he did not know the answers to any of these questions. Nor could he get away from the fact that Asta's situation closely paralleled that of Kamelion. Once the robot had become enslaved to the Master's will, the only way for him to gain his freedom was to beg the Doctor to destroy him. The last thing the Time Lord wanted was to destroy another enslaved creature. Not if there were a way of avoiding it.

The Time Lord's reverie was broken when Asta again asked, "Well, Doctor? Will you help me?"